Three Upsets in Opening Round Robin Matches at ITF WTT Junior Finals in Chengdu; Close Race in USTA's Australian Open Wild Card Challenge with Two Weeks Remaining; Regional Results Add to List of NCAA Individual Qualifiers; ITA Cup Crowns D-II, D-III, NAIA and JUCO Champions

The first day of round robin play at the ITF World Tennis Tour Junior Finals in Chengdu China was disrupted by rain, but all matches were completed, although I was unable to find most of them on the ITF YouTube streams this morning. There were three upsets according to the seedings, which were determined by the ITF Junior rankings: 15-year-old Kristina Penickova avenged her 6-3, 5-7, 6-4 semifinal loss to Czech Laura Samson at Roland Garros; Janjun Kim of Korea, who was an alternate before the withdrawal of Theo Papamalamis of France, defeated Maxim Mrva of the Czech Republic and Mika Stojsavljevic of Great Britain took out Tyra Grant.

Boys results, Wednesday October 16:

Group A
Meese Rottgering[3](NED) d. Hayden Jones(AUS)[7] 6-7(3), 6-2, 7-6(4)
Rafael Jodar[1](ESP) d. Jan Kumstat[5](CZE) 7-6(2), 6-3

Group B
Luca Preda[2](ROU) d. Charlie Robertson[6](GBR) 6-3, 4-6, 6-3
Jangjun Kim[8](KOR) d. Maxim Mrva[4](CZE) 4-6, 6-3, 6-3

Girls results, Wednesday October 16:

Group A
Emerson Jones[1](AUS) d. Jeline Vandromme[6](BEL) 2-6, 6-4, 7-6(4)
Wakana Sonobe[4](JPN) d. Antonia Vergara Rivera[8](CHI) 6-4, 6-2

Group B
Mika Stojsavljevic[5](GBR) d. Tyra Grant[2](USA) 6-4, 6-4
Kristina Penickova[7](USA) d. Laura Samson[3](CZE) 6-2, 6-0

Wednesday's winners will play Wednesday's losers on Thursday, which means Grant and Penickova will face off. Friday's round robin matches will determine the semifinalists, although some could be decided tomorrow depending on results. The top two in each group advance.

Live scoring is available here.

The USTA's Australian Open Wild Card Challenge for women is at its halfway point, with Hailey Baptiste taking a huge lead after all her success in Asia the past two weeks. The 22-year-old, who defeated Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova of the Czech Republic 6-3, 7-5 in the second round of the WTA 1000 in Wuhan, has accumulated 230 points, but as is often the case, the success for those initially eligible for the Challenge results in enough points to assure entry without needing the wild card. Baptiste is now up to 80 in the WTA rankings, and Bernarda Pera, who also qualified for Wuhan and won a round, has improved her ranking to 79, meaning she also is unlikely to need the wild card. That leaves Mary Stoiana(Texas A&M) and 16-year-old Iva Jovic neck-and-neck, with both having won W75s on the USTA Pro Circuit the past two weeks. Today's release from the USTA:

 

Australian Open Wild Card Challenge Standings Update

 

ORLANDO, Fla., October 16, 2024 – Hailey Baptiste's performance during the WTA's Asian swing has all but secured her place in the 2025 Australian Open main draw. Her 230 points earned since the beginning of the Australian Open Wild Card Challenge far outpaces the other wild card challengers to date, but has also lifted her singles ranking to No. 80, likely good for direct entry. 

 

With Baptiste a probable direct entrant, and second-place Bernarda Pera also in line for direct entry while currently ranked No. 79, Texas A&M senior and reigning ITA National Player of the Year Mary Stoiana becomes the defacto Challenge leader, in a close race between her, Iva Jovic and Sofia Kenin. There are two weeks of competition left in the women's side of the Challenge. 

 

The current top of the women's standings (player's current ranking in parenthesis): 

 

1. Hailey Baptiste (80) -- 230

2. Bernarda Pera (79) -- 95

3. Mary Stoiana (320) -- 79

4. Iva Jovic (246) -- 76

5. Sofia Kenin (158) -- 70

 

The women's wild card will be awarded to the American with the most ranking points earned at a maximum of three tournaments during its four-week window. The women's Challenge window runs through the week of October 21. All indoor and outdoor hard-court and carpet events at the W35 level and above are included in the Challenge.

 

The USTA and Tennis Australia have a reciprocal agreement in which main draw wild cards for the 2025 Australian Open and US Open will be exchanged.

 

The men's side of the Challenge begins with events on October 21. 

 

The first of the ITA Regional Championships have concluded, with the finalist and champion of each of the 13 regions booking their spots in next month's NCAA singles championships at Baylor, while the regional doubles champions earn entry into the NCAA doubles draw.

Preseason No. 1 Ozan Baris of Michigan State, a spring 2024 NCAA singles semifinalist who did not qualify for the fall version after losing both his matches at the All-Americans, is now in the field after claiming the Midwest Regional title. 

Stanford freshman Valerie Glozman, who had already qualified for the NCAAs by reaching the ITA All-American quarterfinals last month, won the Northwest regional singles title, beating teammate Connie Ma 6-2, 7-6(2). The second NCAA singles spot from the Northwest Regional was determined by the third place match, which Stanford's Alexis Blokhina won 6-2, 6-7(4), 6-2 over Washington's Reece Carter. Ma and Glozman won the doubles title, so will be playing in both events in Waco next month. 

Longhorn freshman Ariana Pursoo won the Texas Regional, beating teammate Ashton Bowers, also a freshman, 6-4, 6-4 in the final.  Another all-teammate final in the Southern Regional featured Auburn freshman Merna Refaat defeating Auburn junior Angella Okutoyi 6-2, 6-3.

Chris Halioris of CollegeTennisRanks.com has posted public google documents tracking the men and the women who have qualified to compete in the NCAA Championships. Fourteen of the 26 regionals remain to be played, and both the Conference Masters and Sectional Championships are NCAA-qualifying tournaments, although because they are both played November 7-10, a player can compete in just one.

The ITA Cup, the annual fall small college championships, concluded this weekend, with singles and doubles champions determined in the Division II, Division III, NAIA and Junior College divisions. The complete list of champions can be found here. Note that there are no NCAA individual championships for Division II, and NAIA also doesn't hold individual championships.